H. Rapp

Divertor efficiency in ASDEX

Abstract The divertor efficiency in ASDEX is discussed for ohmically heated plasmas. The parameters of the boundary layer both in the torus midplane and the divertor chamber have been measured. The results are reasonably well understood in terms of parallel and perpendicular transport. A high pressure of neutral hydrogen builds up in the divertor chamber and Franck-Condon particles recycle back through the divertor throat. Due to dissociation processes the boundary plasma is effectively cooled before it reaches the neutralizer plates. The shielding property of the boundary layer against impurity influx is comparable to that of a limiter plasma. The transport of iron is numerically simulated for an iron influx produced by sputtering of charge exchange neutrals at the wall. The results are consistent with the measured iron concentration. First results from a comparison of the poloidal divertor with toroidally closed limiters (stainless steel, carbon) are given. Diverted discharges are considerably cleaner and easier to create.

Low energy neutral particle fluxes to the walls of ASDEX during He and D2 discharges

Neutral particle fluxes onto the walls of ASDEX have been investigated using a time-of-flight (TOF) method. The energy distributions of the neutrals could be determined in the range of 10–1000 eV/amu. Ohmic divertor and limiter discharges with equal plasma currents and densities have been compared for He and D2. The He0 outflux at ∼2000 eV from He discharges is 110 of the corresponding D0 flux in D2 discharges. At lower energies this difference is much smaller. In all cases many more He neutrals were observed than was anticipated from the CX rate-coefficients for He2+. The impurity fluxes due to sputtering by the CX-neutrals show no significant difference for He and D2 discharges. For divertor discharges CX-sputtering can fully account for the Fe impurity content determined spectroscopically.

Lower hybrid experiments in the ASDEX tokamak

Interaction of lower hybrid waves at 1.3 GHz with ions and electrons was studied in the density range 0.2-5*1013 cm-3 in the ASDEX tokamak. At high densities, ne>or approximately=4*1013 cm-3, fast ions with mainly perpendicular velocities are produced by the RF power at the plasma periphery. They are not well confined and do not lead to any bulk plasma heating. At lower densities, 2*1013<or approximately=ne<or approximately=4*1013 cm-3, electron and ion heating is observed. The heating is better in deuterium than in hydrogen plasmas. At very low densities, ne<or approximately=2*1013 cm-3, the discharge becomes suprathermal as soon as the RF power is switched on. Launching an asymmetric spectrum of waves in a low density plasma leads to the generation of an RF-driven DC-plasma current.

Impurity Accumulation in Plasma Regimes with High Energy Confinement

Investigations of impurity accumulation phenomena in ASDEX are reviewed. There are four different operating regimes where pronounced accumulation is observed and these regimes are also characterized by improved energy confinement. In particular, medium-Z metallic ions are involved in accumulation processes whereas low-Z ions appear almost unaffected. The rapid accumulation observed in the case of metallic ions may be explained by neoclassical inward drifts if we assume that the anomalous diffusion is sufficiently suppressed, some indication of this being found from laser blow-off studies. The present results, however, can only be partly explained by neoclassical theory, according to which accumulation of low-Z impurities should also occur. The temporal behaviour of accumulation and the retarding effect of proton dilution for collision dominated transport are also discussed. Finally, we conclude that the full benefits of improved energy confinement can be achieved only if the impurity influxes are kept to a sufficiently low level. Expressed in terms of concentrations under low confinement conditions we have to postulate, for ASDEX, concentrations ≲ 10−4 for metals and ≲ 2% for all light impurities.

Conditioning and Optimization of Discharges in ASDEX

Abstract In the first experimental phase the divertor tokamak ASDEX was run with a closed SS-limiter. The cleaning procedure for the vessel consisted of baking to 120°C, carbon removal by glow discharge in hydrogen, and oxygen removal with a continuous low power 50 Hz AC discharge. Wall contact of the plasma was reduced by carefully positioning the plasma with a feedback system. Discharges with plasma currents up to 280 kA and a disruption-free duration of up to 1 s were reliably produced with a filling pressure of 5 × 10 −5 mbar and a programmed current rise. No change in start-up conditions and discharge behaviour was observed in material limiter discharges with superimposed divertor field.

Recycling studies in the ASDEX divertor with pellet or gas puff refuelling

Abstract Discharges fuelled by stationary pellet injection (PI), gas puffing (GP) or a combination of the two methods are compared with respect to recycling in the divertor and particle confinement. Fuelling by PI yields much better global particle confinement than by GP. This has been found for both low and high recycling. In the low-recycling case this improvement is due to the deeper particle deposition for PI than for GP since the transport in the inner plasma is not reduced. For high recycling the improvement results from both the deeper deposition and a reduction in the transport. The best global particle confinement was found for phases with low or no GP. This, however, can be reached for short times only. Since with PI alone it is impossible to keep the recycling on a high level, GP is unavoidable for sustaining the favourable high-recycling condition.

The ASDEX Overvoltage Protection System

The ASDEX overvoltage protection system completes the favourable properties of the ASDEX coils and rectifiers. It uses properly matched standard elements and meets the requirements for operational and fault conditions in a very economic and reliable way. Special care has been taken for the limitation of overvoltages due to major plasma disruptions without it being necessary to interrupt the experiment run.